Man rolls himself up in a carpet to sleep, truck fails to spot him and run him over in Bhondsi

In a freak accident, a man who fell asleep all rolled up in a carpet at an event venue in Bhondsi was killed after a truck allegedly ran over him on Saturday night. police said Monday, adding that the driver failed to notice the man wrapped in the carpet and thought it to be just a carpet roll.

Police said the deceased was identified as Dharamveer Yadav (30), a daily wage worker who came from Kotla in Delhi to work for a tent house in Bhondsi. Police said the tent house supplied materials and work force for a private event at Naya Gaon in Bhondsi that was attended by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday morning.

Police said a few workers slept in the venue on Saturday night after dinner and the tent materials were still at the spot waiting to be loaded and transported.

According to police, Yadav rolled himself up in a long carpet and lay near the stage to sleep.Later that night, trucks reached the spot to load the tent material and one of the drivers ran his vehicle over Yadav, assuming it to be just a carpet roll.

“He was sleeping at an unusual place and in a way no one could have thought of. While other workers slept on a makeshift bed, Yadav slept amid the carpet rolls, all rolled up in a carpet himself,” a senior police officer privy to the investigation said, asking not to be named.

He said Yadav was killed instantly but those at the venue found out about it only on Sunday morning when they spotted a blood-soaked roll at the spot.

Inspector Devender Kumar, station house officer of Bhondsi police station, said the driver Yamuna Prasad was arrested on Monday.

“He admitted to running over Yadav with the truck. The deceased was not visible at all as he was inside the carpet roll. Several more rolls were kept alongside,” he said. The SHO said in the course of the investigation, it surfaced that Yadav had consumed excessive alcohol at dinner and was in inebriated.

Police said the workers and their contractors informed the police immediately and also Yadav’s brother-in-law, Gauri Yadav (37), who filed a complaint to the police. Gauri also worked at the site but had returned to Delhi at night, police said.

On the brother-in-law’s complaint, an FIR against the suspected truck driver was registered under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at Bhondsi police station on Sunday, said police.

Police said they have the registration number of the truck and they would trace the driver soon.

A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said, “The chief minister attended the programme at 11am on Saturday. Neither the party nor the state government had any say in the unfortunate event.”